Tommorrow the Lightning is hosting Ice Fest, their annual fan event where you can get free t-shirts, watch an open practice, a charity hockey game featuring alumni and check out the ice girls. Thrilling? I'm sure the practice might be neat to see, but otherwise events like this are really just for the kids. Full details can be found here.

But interesting tidbit in the press release is that you can assist the Lightning Foundation by purchasing Tampa Bay Lightning license plates! I couldn't find a photo of what it looks like on the Lightning website, but Idid find one on Walmart (!?!?!?). Curious as I don't think of Walmart as my go-to stop for Lightning merchandise

Hockey Fights Cancer

A photo from the photoshoot that was done by Ryan Miller of hockey players for Hockey Fights Cancer month (October), and this set was released today on VanityFair.com.

The sweater is not what I would have picked for Stamkos but I really think it works for him in this photo. And damn that intense stare is one of the best out of the group. The squid on the other hand just looks like he's trying too hard.

I participated in a SE Division blogger roundtable over at the Caps blog Rock the Red with Laura from Thrashing the Blues, Canes Country and the Litter Box Cats. Check it out as we discuss, with the exception of the Caps, how weak our division is yet again

And lastly, Mishkin blogs about being on the road trip with the Lightning. He managed to take a five day trip that was probably exciting into one of the most uninteresting blog posts I've read. Then he takes the time and two giant paragraphs to thank people on the trip like he had won the Oscar with all their hardwork or something. It was a little bit of over-fellating on all the trainer staff love.

A full list of the players who were cut can be found here on the Lightning website. Notable players to be sent back down to the AHL include Paul Szczechura, Dustin Tokarski, Blair Jones, Niklas Persson and last years fan favorite, James Wright.

None of the cuts were surprising even if the players did have a spot on the roster last year. Many of the players like Tokarski and Wright need a little bit more time in the AHL before they can come up to the NHL. Last year's chance that Wright had was due to him being the flavour of the month in camp that stuck around for much longer than he should have and the lack of depth acquired by management in the roster. It's too bad he's already burned through a year of his contract with a year that should have been spent in the AHL WHL last season. Though he's become a bit of a fan favorite online last year due to him being a relative of a certain notable person on the interwebs, he's still a player that really just needs to get more experience and size.

The Lightning will not play again till this coming weekend where they finish off their pre-season games with a home and home series against the Panthers on Friday and Saturday. This week off with give the team time to get to know how to play with each other before the final two games of the pre-season after which they'll get another week to practice together before the season opener on October 9th.

]]>thevancitycanuck@gmail.com (Dani Toth)SeptemberMon, 27 Sep 2010 02:57:48 +0000Summer Catchup: What we gothttp://www.lightninghockeyblog.com/2010-articles/september/summer-catchup-what-we-got.html
http://www.lightninghockeyblog.com/2010-articles/september/summer-catchup-what-we-got.htmlSo I'm back from my summer vacation away from blogging. I spent my time relaxing, doing stuff outdoors around my city and even did a little travelling. As I was away from LHB, GM Stevie seems to have been busy reshaping the team to look like, well a competitive team, non? So before we get started on a little catchup of the season, here is something I found during my travels:

]]>thevancitycanuck@gmail.com (Dani Toth)SeptemberThu, 23 Sep 2010 12:45:15 +0000VF and the NHLhttp://www.lightninghockeyblog.com/2010-articles/september/vf-and-the-nhl.html
http://www.lightninghockeyblog.com/2010-articles/september/vf-and-the-nhl.htmlNot something you'd associate together really, Vanity Fair and the NHL, but on Tuesday night they did. Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter hosted a cocktail party for the NHL and twenty of its biggest stars. Our own Stamkos was among the 20 though the suit, well I think he could have done better, non?

Last time I saw VF do something on hockey was during the Vancouver Winter Olympics where they had some interesting stories about the Latvian hockey team and good looking athletes, but if this is going to be a new relationship for VF and the NHL, I'm all for it. According to this, Crosby and Ovechkin did a photo shoot for VF photographer Bruce Weber prior to the party, so more hockey for VF in the future?

Not to nit pick, but the NHL wrote that VF editor Carter was a native from Ottawa, but maybe they have their facts wrong (or maybe he's in denial) since the VF media kit bio says he's from Toronto.